Orlando Mass Shooting Update: Tuesday, June 14th

Some additional information about the shooter has been made public, and it has many scratching their heads with confusion.

In a strange twist, it is being reported that Mateen was actually a frequent visitor to Pulse. One Pulse employee said: “He was very friendly when we said hi. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who just did what he did. It makes no sense…. My partner said that he was very nice [and seemed] comfortable.” A regular at Pulse also claims that Mateen used a gay dating app to contact him. These claims have not been confirmed by authorities, but it is a new angle that will need to be understood. Some believe that Mateen was just scouting the location for the eventual shooting, while others question if maybe the shooter was, in fact, gay himself.

The FBI has said it is confident that the shooter radicalized via the internet. FBI Director James Comey explained: “There are strong indications of radicalization by this killer and of potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organizations.” That being said, Director Comey clarified that there is no evidence that Mateen was actually associated with any terrorist network or that he received any support from overseas.

We will continue to monitor the latest news out of Orlando; in particular, how it relates to the LGBT community.